Mobile Suit Gundam Asterus
by RedPhoenix2001
Summary: The year is C.E. 71, and both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT plan to wage war. A member of the Alliance, Raymond Thompson, steals ZAFT's greatest weapon, the Gundam Asterus, as a means to not only bring peace, but to unite the Naturals and the Coordinators under one banner.
1. Ep 1 - Mankind's Last Hope

_**Mobile Suit Gundam Asterus**_

** Welcome to the first installment of **_**Gundam Cross Worlds**_**. This is **_**Mobile Suit Gundam Asterus**_**, and I really wanted to work on this for a long time. The concept of this idea is essentially **_**The Darkest Minds **_**meets **_**Gundam SEED**_**. As such, the characters from the former appear in this series. However, characters from both **_**SEED **_**and **_**Seed Destiny**_**, such as Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala, Shinn Asuka, or even Lacus Clyne, do not appear in **_**Asterus**_**. This is because my interpretation of the Cosmic Era (C.E.) timeline is vastly different from the one in both **_**SEED **_**and **_**Seed Destiny**_**. On top of that, this is not canon to **_**The Darkest Minds**_** at all. Without further ado, enjoy the first episode of **_**Asterus**_**. – RedPhoenix2001**

_**Ep. 1: Mankind's Only Hope**_

**January 3, C.E. 71**

The year is C.E. 71, and humanity has now split into two separate factions: The Naturals and the Coordinators. The Naturals are ordinary human beings, while the Coordinators had made contact with a contagious disease known as the Idiopathic Adolescent Acute Neurodegeneration (IAAN), which killed nearly 90% of adolescent children in the year of C.E. 64, leaving the survivors with extraordinary powers. They have since been referred to as 'Coordinators', and are grouped into colors based on their powers: Green (super intelligence), Blue (telekinesis), Gold (electrokinesis), Red (pyrokinesis) and Orange (psionic abilities).

Following the split a year later, two military factions were established. They were the United Nations Earth Sphere Federation (UN-ESF), simply referred to as the Earth Federation, and the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty (ZAFT). The Federation's goal is to bring unity between the Naturals and Coordinators, whereas ZAFT's goal is to eliminate the Coordinators, while turning the Oranges and Reds into Super Soldiers. Clancy Grey, the son of President Jamil Grey, otherwise known as the "Slip Kid", had recently joined ZAFT in the year C.E. 68 as a means to further progress with his goals as well as those of said faction, betraying both his father and the Federation.

With Clancy on their side, ZAFT began working on their "Second Stage Series", by constructing Gundam Asterus, with the model number of ZGMF-X45A. It is been built with the sole purpose of being piloted by an Orange Coordinator, and is their secret weapon against the Federation. However, there was one catch: the person registered by the Gundam's AI is the only one who can pilot it. That meant nobody else could pilot the Asterus due to the AI's failsafe countermeasures. It was eventually complete two years later, just finishing its test run today.

Elsewhere, in the outskirts of Louisiana, a young girl named Ruby Daly was on the run from the police, along with Zu, Chubs, and Liam. It almost feels like they were about to be cornered by said police, until one of them was shot in the head by a mysterious man. "Are you guys okay?" He told them. That man was Raymond Thompson, the son of Dr. Carter Thompson, who works as a scientist for ZAFT, and helped in the construction and testing of the Asterus. "I think we should go, right this instant!" He told them. Unfortunately, a group of ZAFT soldiers arrived, and they captured Raymond and company by knocking every single one of them unconscious.

_**Meanwhile, at ZAFT HQ**_

Raymond soon woke up in a jail cell with Ruby, Zu, Chubs, and Liam. Then, he proceeded to act quickly, shooting down a ZAFT soldier that held the keys, which allowed them to escape. Then suddenly, Dr. Thompson arrived at the hallway, with a Datacom in his hands. "Take this, Raymond. It will lead you to Asterus." Dr. Thompson told them. "Please, son! Take me to the Federation!" Dr. Thompson wanted to join the Federation, but then Clancy almost shot him. "Trying to escape, Dr. Thompson?" Clancy retorted. Remembering the Gundam Asterus, Raymond let the others leave while he hijacks said Gundam.

Clancy gives chase, but Raymond was one-step ahead of him. The latter knew where the hangar was from the get go, and the Datacom led him to the Gundam. "So _this_ is ZAFT's secret weapon?" Raymond questioned ZAFT's decisions. Regardless, he was able to hijack the Gundam, but once the AI registered his data, his fate was sealed.

"_Pilot registered; Identified as Raymond Thompson… ZGMF-X45A Gundam Asterus online."_

The Gundam Asterus is now online, to Clancy's surprise. Raymond decides to take the Asterus out on its first sortie by launching out of the hangar. Unfortunately, for him, there were three Red Coordinators waiting for him in their Rei Ignited mobile suits.

The Rei Ignited grunts, at the time the Asterus was in development, were constructed. In contrast to the latter, the Rei Ignited suits took advantage of the Red Coordinators ability of Pyrokinesis, hence they have opening mouths to accommodate said ability.

However, because the Asterus is an All-Rounder Type of Gundam, Raymond pulls out a beam saber from the side skirting armor and proceeds to slice the heads of the Rei Ignited before they could even attack. However, there was one more Rei Ignited waiting for him. It was armed with a 200mm Beam Rifle and a spare Tail Whip. Then, it proceeded to open its mouth, shooting fire at its targets. Unfortunately, Raymond had figured out the weakness of the Rei Ignited: Its mouth. By using the beam rifle, the Rei Ignited explodes, taking its pilot's life with it. By the time Ruby and co. had escaped, they saw Raymond in the now stolen Gundam Asterus.

"Looks like the cat is out of the bag…" Ruby commented. Then again, Dr. Thompson insisted that they would take them to the Federation. "Take me to the Federation, please!" Without a word, Raymond, in the Gundam Asterus, took his dad and his new friends to the Federation HQ, located in Oregon.

_**A few minutes later, at the Federation HQ**_

At the Federation HQ, Ruby, Zu, Liam, and Chubs reunite with Cate, the leader of the Children's League, while Raymond met up with Lt. Maxwell Langley, the head of the GAT-X project. "So, Raymond, now that you've got your dad back and the Gundam Asterus, what are we going to do now?" Max told Raymond, to which he replies, "Simple: Reprogram the Asterus and create the other 4 GAT-X Gundams out of it." This is exactly what Lt. Langley did. He reprogrammed the Asterus with the model number of GAT-X305, and created the other four Gundams from it.

They are based on each the individual Coordinator's special abilities; Gundam Sparrow (GAT-X408), which specializes in high mobility and uses electricity-based weaponry, Raven Gundam (GAT-X203), which specializes in long-range combat, Gundam Win-ail (GAT-X104), which was created from the Windam (GAT-04) that specializes in high-speed combat due to its ability to transform, and Gundam Kyria (GAT-X507), which specializes in heavy artillery.

The Asterus, following its induction into the Federation, got an overhaul. Thanks to Lt. Langley, the Gundam underwent a redesign to accommodate the Silhouette Packs, which can fit any situation, much like the Strike and the Impulse. Its default pack was the Lavetien Silhouette, becoming the Gundam Asterus Lavetien. Despite this, the Asterus can still function without any of the Silhouette Packs, since its Deuterion Engine can supply power without any of the Packs.

However, ZAFT did not want to go down without a fight. The next day, they launched their most recent mobile suit: Clancy Grey's Ral-El Gunner, along with a dozen of Rei Ignited trailing behind him. The other four GAT-X Gundams would not be ready until 3 weeks from now, so the Federation deployed the Asterus with the Lavetien Silhouette.

"I will not let you lead the Federation to victory!" Clancy shouted. "You wish…" Raymond replied. The latter stops talking for a while and proceeds to slaughter the Red Coordinators, but only one of them survived. "I can't wait to cook you for dinner." The pilot taunted. That was Isaac Hernando, a Red Coordinator and Clancy's right hand man.

The Ral-El Gunner had started launching a barrage of missiles, as well as trying to fire a bunch of grenades at Raymond, but to no avail. The Asterus started gunning down both Isaac and Clancy, but the former was able to escape, due to the nature of his Rei Ignited, customized to house a Core Fighter for a cockpit.

It is now between Raymond and Clancy, piloting the Asterus and Ral-El Gunner, respectively. Clancy executed the first move, using a bazooka equipped with three rockets, each of them failing to land any hit on the Asterus. Raymond then made his move, using the beam rifle to shoot the head and the beam sabers to fend off the Ral-El and slice off its left arm.

Still, Clancy was not going down without a fight, but by then, Raymond is just curbstomping him. Then, in a stroke of chance, the Saber Silhouette was finished, launched by the Federation to assist Raymond. Just then, Clancy managed to escape, before the Gundam Asterus Saber destroyed the Ral-El Gunner. Later, Raymond contacted Lt. Langley, saying that he is okay.

"_It looks like we're in the middle of a war._" Raymond thought to himself. "_And I just got caught in the middle of it all…_"

_**End of Ep. 1**_

__**That ends the first episode of **_**Mobile Suit Gundam Asterus**_**. Just a head's up, I will upload this first, before Ep. 2 of **_**A Friendly Reunion**_**, **_**Aligned Re:Generations: Agito Saga**_**, and **_**Mobile Suit Gundam Xenos**_**. This is more of an experiment if anything, to see if **_**Gundam Cross Worlds**_** would be able to get some attention. Anyway, thanks for reading, guys! – RedPhoenix2001**


	2. Ep 2 - Trials and Tribulations

_**Ep. 2: Trials and Tribulations**_

**(Note: This picks up where the first episode left off, and has a time skip of 3 weeks later. By this point, the rest of the GAT-X series had been completed. Also, a new grunt suit appears; the Ral-El Warrior, piloted by Clancy Grey, which will serve as his main mobile suit for a good chunk of the series. Anyway, enjoy the episode!)**

_**A couple of minutes later…**_

It's become clear to Raymond that a war has begun. Soon after destroying the Ral-El Gunner, the Gundam Asterus Saber went back to Federation HQ, and left no trace. Raymond meets up with Lt. Langley once again only for the latter to declare, "This is war, Raymond. If we cannot come up with a proper strategy, we're screwed." Soon after, Raymond went to the site where the other 4 GAT-X Gundams were built. The GAT-X project was in development around the same time as ZAFT's Second Stage Series. The goal was to counter the latter until Raymond stole Gundam Asterus.

Back at the ZAFT HQ in Louisiana, Clancy was supervising the mass production of the Ral-El Warriors and Gunners. "After all this time, we should've outnumber the Federation, but that bastard Raymond Thompson stole our greatest weapon." He shouted. Then Isaac walked towards him and presented 5 new blueprints for the Second Stage Series. "At this point, why bother with the Asterus when we have the blueprints for 5 new Gundams?" He told Clancy. One of the five blueprints contains the information and technical specs of the Solomon Gundam (ZGMF-X85A). "It won't be finished for another 7 months, Clancy." Isaac told him.

**January 21, C.E. 71**

The other 4 GAT-X Gundams (Sparrow, Raven, Win-ail and Kyria) have been completed, and are now being tested. "Huh, how did all 4 of these get made so fast?" Ruby asked, to which Lt. Langley responds with, "Well, our engineers have been constructing these 24/7…" Ruby then leaves in confusion. In the hangar of the Asterus, Raymond received a message from ZAFT, specifically from Clancy Grey, who has now held a grudge on him ever since the Asterus' first sortie. "I'll be waiting for you…"

While the message was vague, it gave Raymond enough time to find the pilots of the recently completed GAT-X series. Although Raymond knew that he had found the potential pilots for the Gundams the moment he had met Ruby and company, they have little to no experience piloting a mobile suit, let alone a Gundam. Eventually, Lt. Langley and Cate stormed in. "Ray, were you able to find the pilots for the Gundams?" Raymond told them if they could allow Ruby, Chubs, Zu, and Liam to pilot all 4 of the Gundams.

"Don't worry, I'll train them." Raymond told them, but then said, "Or better yet, _you_ train them, Max." The latter has nothing to say, and gave in to his request. And so, for the next 2 weeks, Max trained Ruby and her friends to properly pilot the Gundams, but not before Raymond assigns each one to their respective Gundams.

Ruby was assigned with Raven Gundam, Zu with Gundam Sparrow, Liam with Gundam Win-ail, and Chubs with Gundam Kyria. He then explained, "Each of these Gundams are assigned with specific battle tatics." Raymond told them. "Raven specializes in long-range combat, Sparrow utilizes high mobility, Win-ail can transform, and Kyria is a tank with legs."

But Ruby became skeptical about it. "Let me get this straight. You want us to pilot giant robots for the fate of the Coordinators?" Ruby asked Raymond, to which he says yes, but then replied with, "I then remembered that the four of you have little to no experience when piloting a Gundam." Raymond thought it over, as he was dealing with a bunch of inexperienced pilots. "Raymond, does driving a van count?" Liam asked, but Chubs took the blow for him. "Driving a van and piloting a Gundam are two different things, Liam…"

Regardless, Raymond, despite only being able to pilot a Gundam just now, had a lot more experience with piloting since he spent 3 years in the Federation, while his father was still working at ZAFT. So, without any hesitation, took the four to the training facility located in the East Main of the Federation HQ.

At first, the four never knew what to do, but they became accustomed to the controls of their respective Gundams. And just in time too, as ZAFT soldiers have been spotted in Florida, courtesy of Max. "You five need to get out there and those civilians." With that in mind, Raymond, as well as the other four rookies, head out to Florida, and both Max and Cate christened them as "Team GAT-X", after the GAT-X series of Gundams.

All 5 Gundams (Asterus, Raven, Sparrow, Win-ail and Kyria) were deployed to Florida, where a bunch of Ral-El Gunners and Rei Ignited are waiting for them. Clancy is already waiting for them in his customized Ral-El Warrior as well. "Time for a rematch, Thompson." As the 5 GAT-X arrived on the scene, the Ral-El Gunners began to charge towards Win-ail, but little did anyone know, it was equipped with the Mirage Colloid technology, preventing the Win-ail from being detected. There's one flaw with the Mirage Colloid: The inability to activate the Phase Shift Armor, meaning Liam is vunerable to gunfire if he is ever detected.

Meanwhile, Raymond clashes with Clancy once again, but the Ral-El Warrior was able to outmatch the Asterus, even though the latter is a Gundam. "I tuned this Ral-El to combat even a Gundam, so you're no match for me." Clancy boasted. But then, Raymond contacted Max. "Max, launch the Saber Silhouette. I got some meat to chop!" With this prompt, Max launched the Saber Silhouette, allowing Raymond to have his chance with Clancy.

"Not this time, Raymond!" Clancy declares as he tries to counter everything Raymond throws at him. But even then, the latter decides he's had enough and brandishes the Anti-Airship Sword. As Raymond begins to slash away, the rest of team GAT-X have been overwhelmed by the Ral-El Warriors, but afterwards Zu purges the armor of Gundam Sparrow and proceeds to attack the Ral-Els in its high mobility form. 15 Ral-Els ended up being completely destroyed. But even then, reinforcements coming from ZAFT meant that there was a swarm of enemies everywhere.

It wasn't until another Gundam from the GAT-X series had arrived on the scene. It just so happened to be the Strike Rouge Gundam, but it was piloted by Lt. Max. "Don't worry, I've got this. Ruby, you need to help Raymond." No one knows for certain why the Strike Rouge suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Meanwhile, as the battle between the Asterus and the Ral-El Warrior rage on, both of its pilots were becoming exhausted. To make matters worse, the Phase Shift Armor of both the Asterus and the Ral-El Warrior have been rendered deactivated, allowing either one to strike. But since Raymond didn't want to risk himself getting killed, decides to escape from the battlefield. Clancy, unwilling to give up the fight, decided to give chase, only to be shot down by Ruby.

"I've would've turned you in right now, Ruby Daly…" Clancy told her. "And you would've been in those camps right now, had it not been for the fact that you're an Orange." This left Ruby in complete distasteful anger. "I'll deal with you later, Clancy." She replied.

As the Federation's trump card is sent to a retreat, Raven and Kyria provided cover fire for Raymond as he escapes from the war-torn area. "I need to recharge, don't worry…" Raymond told them. But suddenly, he recalled something about President Grey. When he came back, he got out of the cockpit. Cate asked him why he decided to get off board the Asterus.

"I have a President to deal with…" He replied, leaving the hangar. Meanwhile, as the battle rages on, the rest of the GAT-X team managed to fend off half of the remaining Ral-Els, leaving the rest to retreat. "Looks like we won for today…" Chubs remarked. Soon after, they were wondering where did Raymond go. "Looks like our star pilot isn't here to celebrate, is he?" Liam told them.

_**Meanwhile, at the White House…**_

After taking a private jet to Washington, D.C., Raymond went straight to President Grey's office. The latter greeted as he enters the room. "Hello, Raymond, what do you want from me?" He asked. Raymond just glares at him, believing that he has no concern for any of the casualties. "President Grey, both the Federation and ZAFT are locked in a war. I think you should do something about it right now!" He told President Grey.

"I'm sorry, Raymond, but there's nothing I could do about it." Grey replied. Raymond asks why that was the case. "Raymond, I'm still living in regret because of my son, Clancy. He betrayed me to fufill ZAFT's goals." President Grey explained to Raymond, who then told him that he encountered Clancy, and he desired to kill him following the theft of the Asterus. "Don't worry, Raymond. We need to figure something out…" Grey replied.

Meanwhile, back at the Federation's Oregon Base, Ruby and co. wondered where Raymond went, only for Cate to enter. "He's in Washington, talking to President Grey." She replied. Chubs began to wonder why the Strike Rouge appeared out of nowhere. Then Liam asked Lt. Max, "Where did the Strike Rouge come from?" This prompted Max to take them to the hangar, where he revealed something about their Gundams.

"You see, the Gundams you were piloting are in fact, the 2nd Generation GAT-X series. They were developed using the data of the 1st Generation GAT-X series." Lt. Max explained. "The Strike, Aegis, Duel, Blitz and Buster have been in our possession for quite some time now." Chubs asked who was the pilot of the Strike Gundam, but Max refused to disclose any information.

When Raymond returned, Max was sorting out the files of information. By the time the latter went out for some coffee, Raymond dug up the files and found the DOCA of the Strike's pilot. "So his name is Kira Yamato, huh?" He told himself. "I'm not exactly sure what to make of this…" After that, he grabbed a container with a set of blueprints. They are, in fact, the blueprints for the space colonies, which Raymond plans to use in order to evacuate the Coordinators from not only Earth, but also from ZAFT's clucthes. "Let's see how this would all turn out…"

_**End of Episode 2…**_

__**And that ends Ep. 2 of **_**Asterus.**_** Sorry for the delay of this episode, but it's all worth it. As of now, I have no plans of starting production on the next two entries of **_**Gundam Cross Worlds**_**. Those two are **_**Mobile Suit Gundam: The War Within**_**, which is a retelling of the One Year War, and **_**Mobile Suit Gundam: Project Everse**_**, which follows on from **_**The War Within**_** four years later. Until then, I'll see you later! –RedPhoenix2001**


End file.
